Envy (Seven Deadly Sins) by Laura Cooper

Chapter 1
    Walking around his desk my legs felt unstable, as if they would give way from beneath me at any moment.  This man rattled me to my core.  Knowing that I’d just brought New York’s most eligible bachelor to orgasm in my mouth filled me with unexpected pride, and the warm sense of accomplishment ran through my body.  I licked my lips, tasting the last traces of Carlton left there as his manly scent flooded my nostrils and my mind spun wildly into dangerous territory.  Punish me… he’d said, and my entire body had rumbled inwardly at the thought.
    I’d thought I was past that point in my life.  My resolve to forget men and concentrate on my career had been absolute, pre-Carlton.  I was going to take control, especially of my love life.  When I’d left Charleston, I’d made a solemn promise to myself never to allow anyone that much control again.  I was certain I wouldn’t survive another devastating blast of reality that was for sure.  Eleven years with Benton Frazier had taught me so many things; most of them I’d vowed never to repeat.  It’s not that I didn’t like it, giving up control that is.  No, I liked that a lot.  It was the broken trust that seemed to have a stranglehold on my brain whenever I thought of being that close to anyone again.  And a relationship without trust just wasn’t appealing on any level to me.  I guess once you’ve learned to swim in the grown up pool there’s no going back to wearing floaties.
    My experiences with Benton had been fresh and exciting, yet somehow I’d let him taint those memories for me.  The truth was in front of me like an albatross; I desired, maybe even needed, controlling men.  Benton was a mere coin with identical sides; what you saw was what you got and nothing was ever a shock.  Both men were killer attorneys, but that’s where all similarities hit the brick wall.  Carlton couldn’t possibly be more complicated, surprising and downright challenging.  It was that deadly combination that caused me to look back on my vows of chastity as nothing more than a schoolgirl whim.
    Carlton circled around his desk in my wake, his strong firm grip on my neck sent shivers of expectation through me as he guided me to the sofa.  I’d never expected this from him; he was so gentle with me in our love making.  Yet now, fear, love, lust, and desire all swarmed through my veins like a colony of rousted yellow jackets.  I envisioned him pushing me down face first on the couch, pulling my skirt above my waist and ripping my pantyhose to shreds.  Maybe that was more of a wish, than an expectation.  With Carlton, I couldn’t seem to anticipate a single thing; this frighteningly compelling side of him bowled me over.  One minute his grip on my neck had me in pre-orgasmic state, the next his tenderness made my heart swell to the size of a watermelon.  I dutifully headed to the couch to take whatever punishment he felt I needed with eagerness.
    He guided me over to the overstuffed leather couch and sat me down as his iPhone began ringing.  “What?”  Anyone within a four block radius could sense his irritation bubbling to a boil.  But the call had stolen his attention from me, and he lifted a single finger in my direction to indicate he needed a moment.  He had no idea that I was willing to give him all the time he could possibly stand.  As excited as he had me I could sit here all night long puddling my wetness onto his glove leather sofa.  I lowered my hands to the buttons of my shirt and began slowly, teasingly releasing them.  “You can’t pick one?” he asked into his phone.  “Wait a minute,” he said, pulling the phone to his chest.  He pointed at me and clicked his fingers, “Quick, what’s a good law firm in Charleston?”
    “What?” I responded.  It wasn’t because there wasn’t one; again he had me off guard.  I couldn’t believe this man went from zero to sixty in mere seconds.  One moment I was rocking his